News Briefs

Israeli Electric car company Better Place has announced that founder and current CEO Shai Agassi is being relieved of his position, to be replaced by the CEO of Better Place Australia, Evan Thornley. Agassi will remain in the company as a shareholder and part of the board of directors.

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The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) plans on using Israeli-made water purification tablets in their efforts to aid the people of war-torn Syria. Israel’s ICL received a special permit from the Israeli government to knowingly sell the tables for use in the neighboring country.

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Japanese electronics giant Fujitsu has announced its new hybrid computer, Stylistic Q702, which is based on technology developed by Israeli company N-trig. According to the company, the computer’s touchscreen has multi-touch capabilities of up to 10 fingers at a time and can also make use of a keyboard dock and stylus pen.

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Israeli startup company Celeno Communications has announced that it has raised $24 million in its 5th funding round. The company develops chips for media applications on home Wi-Fi networks. Since its foundation in 2005, the company has raised approx. $68 million.

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Utilight, an Israeli company which specializes in manufacturing photovoltaic cell to produce solar energy, has announced that it has raised $4.5 million in its 1st round of investment. According to the company, the money raised will be directed towards advancing the company’s solar-cell manufacturing technology.

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SCR, which is based in Netanya, Israel, has announced that it has won a tender to computerize some 300 dairy farms in Belarus. The company, which develops, manufactures and markets dairy-farm-management software, will supply the farms with software and equipment worth $20 million.

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Israeli electric-car company better place has launched an initiative to encourage Israeli driver to lease electric cars. The company will offer its modified Renault Fluence model for the sum of NIS2,000 (approx. $510) per month and a down-payment of NIS9,900 (Approx. $2,530).

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“Data center in a box” company SimpliVity, founded by Israeli entrepreneur Doron Kemple, has announced that it has raised $25 million in its 2nd funding round. One of the investing companies, VC KPCB, is known for past investments in later-successful startups such as Google, Amazon, Twitter and Zynga.

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Online data company eXelate has announced that it has raised $12 million in its 3rd investment round. The company specializes in utilizing data gathered online to allow advertisers more efficient marketing tools. Since its foundation in 2007, the company has raised $32 million. The recent round was led primarily by NewSpring Capital, which was joined by existing investors Carmel Ventures, Menlo Ventures and Trident Capital.

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Israeli internet giant Conduit has silently launched a new web browser, which is based on Google’s Chromium browser. Israeli website TechNation reports that the new browser, entitled simply “U”, allows user to keep track of activity on various social networks while browsing, without the need of switching between tabs.

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Israeli “Software as a Service” company Insightera has announced that it has raised $1.5 million from Israeli venture capital fund Glilot Partners. Insightera, founded in 2010, develops B2B software, which analyses customers’ behavior in real time and responds accordingly.

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The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics has released a report that shows that the Israeli startup market has a relatively high success rate. According to data gathered between 2003 and 2008, approximately 65 percent of Israeli startups are operational for at least five years.

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Cloud-based enterprise company SAManage has raised $3 million from Carmel Ventures in its first financing round. The company, founded in 2007, is a “Software as a Service” company which specializes in developing cloud-based IT for asset management solutions.

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Israel is the 2nd most educated country in the world, according to the OECD. 46 percent of Israelis have university-level degrees, second only to Canada, which leads the world with a whopping 51 percent. The 3rd place on the list belongs to Japan and the United States ranks 4th.

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Israeli medical company Gamida Cell will move forward with testing its second pipeline product – NiCord, for treatment of blood cancer and other blood-related conditions. The trials are expected to show results within 6 months. This announcement comes two weeks after the company’s announcement of its contact with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, with intention of commercializing Gamida Cell’s flagship product – StemEX.

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